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The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate Sebastian Aho’s series-clinching goal in double overtime of Game Five of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Andrew Maclean/NHLI via Getty Images)

Carolina Hurricanes’ 3 Stars of April

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated May 2, 2025 5:05 PM ET

The Carolina Hurricanes are now moving on to Round 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they’ll face the Washington Capitals. Before the beginning of May, the Hurricanes went 2-6-1 in the final nine games of the regular season in April, finishing with a 47-30-5 record (99 points). While the record is not great, the Hurricanes rested some of their regulars in the last week of the season. Still, some players stood out in April, during the final nine regular-season games and into the playoffs.

In the seventh instalment of “Three Stars of the Month” from The Hockey Writers, we’ll look at who led the way for the Hurricanes last month.

Third Star: Andrei Svechnikov

Andrei Svechnikov earns the third star because of his impressive performance in Round 1 against the New Jersey Devils, more so than his handful of games in the regular season, where he tallied one goal and three points in seven games. However, in the first round, he turned it on, scoring five goals and finishing with six points in the five-game series. Game 4 was his breakout performance as he scored the Hurricanes’ second-ever postseason hat trick en route to a 5-2 win.

The Hurricanes waited for Svechnikov to get rolling all season, and Games 4 and 5 were his coming-out party. While he only recorded 20 goals and 48 points in the regular season, his performance in the playoffs so far should give him a confidence boost. His greatest ability was his availability for the Hurricanes in Round 1, taking no penalties. Svechnikov is capable of a 25-plus goal, 60-point-plus season, and if this postseason unlocks another level to ghis game, watch out.

Second Star: Sebastian Aho

Sebastian Aho could arguably be the first of the month. He had a good finish to the regular season, with four assists and five points in seven games in April. However, he was a beast in Round 1, finishing with three goals and eight points. He leads the team in assists (five), points (eight), and power-play and game-winning goals (three). He scored half of the Hurricanes’ six power-play goals in Round 1, including the game-tying and game-winning goals in Game 5 to secure the series win.

Aho finished with a 5.6 shooting percentage (S%) in the seven regular-season games. However, he has a 21.4 S% in five playoff games. He was undoubtedly one of the most important players for the Hurricanes in Round 1.

First Star: Seth Jarvis

For the sixth-straight time, Seth Jarvis is among the three stars on the month. He finished with three goals and nine points in seven games in April and recorded two goals and five points in Round 1. While Aho had a fantastic series, his April stats don’t compare to Jarvis’, who was more than a point-per-game player through the month and into Round 1.

Is it splitting hairs? Possibly. But Jarvis also had an 11.1 S% in the seven regular-season games and an 18.2% in five games against the Devils. Compared to Aho’s 5.6 and 21.4 S%, Jarvis was more consistent, giving him a slight edge for First Star honors.

Now We Wait for Round 2

The Hurricanes now wait for the NHL to unveil the second-round series against Capitals will start. It should be an interesting series as the Hurricanes finished second in the Metropolitan Division behind the Capitals and went 2-1-1 against the Capitals in the regular season. Stay tuned for dates and start times for the second round.